The present application relates to the production of alkaline spring waters having a pH of at least about 10 and a designated potassium and sodium ion content from one or more spring water sources. One objective is to produce alkaline spring waters having substantially consistent properties such as taste and alkaline ion content. Another objective is to minimize the amount of alkaline formulation to be used to produce alkaline spring waters from fresh spring waters. Yet another objective is to minimize the use of additionally treated input spring water in producing the alkaline spring waters.
The blood stream of human beings has a pH of about 7.35 to about 7.45. This is maintained by the body but can be affected by the consumption of acidic beverages. Such acidic beverages include coffees, teas, juices, and sodas. If these beverages are consumed in excess a person's pH will be lowered. Also some foods also will lower a person's pH. The can be counteracted in part by the consumption of alkaline waters. The alkaline waters can be formed as an individual serving or can be in the form of bottled alkaline waters in 0.5 liter to 4 liter or more bottles or other containers. The forming of alkaline waters in individual servings is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,511 of Sang Wang and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,346 to Richard Hornack. In the techniques of these patents an alkaline formulation is added to each serving of water to produce the alkaline water. The alkaline formulations contain various inorganic substances. The product of alkaline water in larger volumes is set out in U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,902 to Abramowitz et al. The source water is filtered and purified to produce a highly purified water. It is then remineralized to produce an alkaline water. This remineralized water then undergoes an electrolysis step and is flowed to storage. It is taken from a storage tank and bottled as needed. The present processes for producing alkaline spring waters has several advantages over these processes of Abramowitz. As a first advantage not all of the source water needs to be purified. This is due in part to the source water being a spring water. Spring waters usually contain some minerals and usually will have fewer contaminants. A second advantage is that a remineralization step is not needed. A further advantage is that an electrolysis step is not needed. All of these advantages lowers the cost of producing the product alkaline waters and consequently lowers the cost of the product alkaline waters to the consumer.